Global marine terminal operator DP World said its Spanish terminal DP World Tarragona has achieved a major security milestone by winning an ISO 28000 certification.

Tarragona is the 40th DP World facility to receive the independently audited award, said a statement from the Dubai-based organisation.

DP World Tarragona, located in the Catalan region of northeastern Spain, earned the security certification after a long process of stringent audits of container security, physical access controls, procedural security, personnel security, threat awareness and training in security issues, business partner requirements and IT integrity, it stated.

The ISO 28000 standard sets out mechanisms and process to address security vulnerabilities at strategic and operational levels, as well as establishing preventive action plans.

The certification comes barely a year after the successful completion of the first phase of expansion works that transformed Tarragona into a unit capable of receiving mega ships with a nominal capacity of over 13,800 TEU (twenty foot equivalent container units).

Flemming Dalgaard, senior VP and managing director, Europe & Russia, DP World, said, 'This is an important milestone in our programme to achieve ISO 28000 security certification at every one of our network of container terminals across six continents.'

'We regard security as a baseline service for our customers and DP World Tarragona’s achievement adds further strength to our global operations,' he remarked.

'We congratulate DP World Tarragona’s management and staff for their commitment and hard work in achieving this important certification,' he added.

Oscar Rodriguez, general manager, DP World Tarragona, said, 'Securing the ISO 28000 certification is the latest of our initiatives to consistently deliver superior services to our customers.'

'We serve a significant industrial hinterland and provide a crucial gateway and supply chain hub for customers wanting to access the surrounding Catalan region and on to Madrid,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service